In a wireless local area network (WLAN), if an access point needs to trigger terminal roaming, for a terminal that supports wireless network management, an AP associated with the terminal can instruct, by using a basic service set transition mechanism, the terminal to roam and to associate with a new AP. For a terminal that does not support wireless network management, an AP currently associated with the terminal sends a disassociation frame or a deauthentication frame to the terminal, so as to disassociate from the terminal and trigger terminal roaming.
However, after disassociating from the original AP, the terminal that does not support wireless network management becomes a terminal that is not associated with any AP. When the terminal that is not associated with any AP attempts to associate with a new AP, the terminal may need to be re-authenticated, resulting in a long service interruption time of the terminal.